All Rise...

Judge Clark Douglas is a washed-up DVD reviewer attempting to revive his career.

The Charge

Only in Rome could this story happen!

The Case

In 1952, director Vincente Minnelli, producer Jack Houseman, writer Charles
Schnee and actor Kirk Douglas teamed up on the well-regarded showbiz drama
The Bad and the Beautiful, in which Douglas played a once-successful
producer attempting to revive his career. Hoping to recapture the success of
that film, the same quartet teamed up again for 1962's Two Weeks in Another
Town, in which Douglas plays a once-successful actor attempting to revive
his career. The results were much less successful, as the film is an engaging
but preposterous piece of old-school Hollywood melodrama.

Jack Andrus (Douglas) used to be one of the most well-regarded actors of his
generation, but lately he's been spending his days in a sanitarium. Upon his
release, Jack receives a telegram from director Maurice Kruger (Edward G.
Robinson, The Ten Commandments)
detailing a small acting opportunity. Jack has a long history with Maurice; in
the past they made seven films together (Jack even won an Oscar for one of
them). Despite the fact that Jack hasn't seen Maurice in six years (not to
mention that he hasn't acted in four), he accepts the offer and flies off to
Rome for a couple weeks of shooting.

Upon Jack's arrival, Maurice confesses that he never actually had an acting
role for Jack, but that he simply wanted to spend some time with his old friend.
Jack is initially angered by this revelation, but calms down once Maurice gives
him the opportunity to work on the film in a different capacity: supervising the
dubbing. Jack hesitantly accepts the job, coaxing Maurice's less-than-gifted
actors into dubbing their lines convincingly. When Maurice suffers a heart
attack and is unable to finish the film, Jack offers to finish the project. If
he succeeds in making a respectable motion picture, it will be a big boost to
the career of both men. If he fails, it will put an end to Jack's comeback and
significantly damage Maurice's reputation.

At a first glance, I was a little surprised that Two Weeks in Another
Town is only being released as part of the "DVDs manufactured on
demand" Warner Archive collection. The film certainly has a well-regarded
cast; Kirk Douglas, Edward G. Robsinon, Cyd Charisse, George Hamilton, and
Claire Trevor in the same film ought to merit a standard DVD release, don't you
think? After seeing the actual film, its less-than-prestigious release is easier
to understand. While Two Weeks in Another Town isn't an unwatchable
movie, it squanders a lot of the talent involved and offers ideas that are more
interesting in theory than execution.

The film promises a look at how the film industry really works, but the
occasional moments of insight and truth are buried in superficial, cheap
melodrama. Rather than making us feel like we're getting a look behind the
scenes, Two Weeks in Another Town too often feels like just another
movie. The assorted romantic subplots running through the film (Edward G.
Robinson is in a terrible marriage with Claire Trevor, Kirk Douglas is in love
with Cyd Charisse but still has buried feelings for Daliah Lavi) meander
aimlessly for the longest time and then explode into laughable hysteria (a scene
in which Douglas beats Charisse and then roars down the road in a miserably
staged, rear-projection-fueled automobile ride would be repulsive if it weren't
so hilariously awful). The film finally concludes at the most awkward spot
imaginable, spinning the characters around and then leaving them hanging as the
credits roll. It feels like there's a reel (or two or three) missing.

I wish I could tell you that the performances are enjoyable despite the
severe script problems, but frankly, everyone is off their game. Kirk Douglas
overacts in the extreme during some of his bigger scenes, but plays things flat
and low-key the rest of the time. Edward G. Robinson seems bored in his role as
the aging director, while Claire Trevor's booze-fueled hysteria is much less
compelling this time than it was in Key
Largo. The less said about the performances of Hamilton, Charisse, and Lavi
the better.

The DVD transfer isn't too great, with lots of flecks, specks and softness
preventing us from enjoying the lush, busy visuals Minnelli has to offer. I wish
a little more work was being put into these Warner Archive releases, but it is
what it is. David Raksin's score sounds sharp and clear, but the dialogue is
often muffled and distorted (the scene on the pier early in the film is
particularly rough-sounding). The only extra on the disc is a theatrical
trailer.

If you haven't seen The Bad and the Beautiful, you owe it to yourself
to check that one out before you even think about getting Two Weeks in
Another Town. For that matter, you owe to yourself to watch a whole lot of
better movies before you even think about Two Weeks in Another Town. This
one is only for movie buffs with a particular interest in some of the cast and
crew members involved.